Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- NewsChannel 9 has been looking at how cancer treatment is changing. In addition to chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, there are several other treatment options that can help patients fight cancer and improve their quality of life.
The treatments include vitamin C infusions, which can strengthen the immune system; Reiki, an energy medicine to help patients heal themselves; as well as, yoga and acupuncture.
A CNY woman in her 50s was diagnosed with cancer six years ago. She didn’t want to be identified, but agreed to share her story through her medical history.
She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2006. Less than two years later, the cancer spread to her brain. Doctors found six tumors. The following year, three more tumors were found and then in 2010, another tumor developed in her brain. She had undergone all the traditional therapies: surgery, chemo and radiation, so she decided to try other therapies.
She began Reiki treatments every two weeks and took yoga classes. She also began taking supplements containing tumeric – a spice that fights inflammation.
The woman had 11 tumors treated as of 2010 and has been cancer free ever since. Is it because of integrative therapies? Her doctor can’t be sure, but he recently told her Reiki master, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but keep doing it.”
If you’d like to find out more about these integrative, holistic cancer therapies, there’s an open house this Thursday at
Hematology Oncology Associates on Brittonfield Parkway in East Syracuse. It runs from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Doctors will be on hand to answer your questions.
